What I Deserve
by dobegirl15
Summary: Cory and Topanga have just moved to New York City! Topanga is trying to make friends in her classes, but Cory starts acting strange... CORPANGA! One shot.


**Alright, I broke down and wrote a one shot. *sigh***

 **So I thought this could make an interesting story. Not giving away anything though!**

 **Corpanga shippers, bear with me! Corpanga is my OTP- I take care of them.**

 **This takes place shortly after Cory and Topanga moved to New York.**

 **So here we go! :)**

"So how was work today?" Topanga asked.

"It was good. It was busy at the store today. I still have a paper to finish for Friday, too. I'd better get going on that," Cory said, standing up from the couch. He walked over to his desk and turned on his computer.

"What did you do today?" he asked her.

"Not much. I think I finally made a friend!"

Cory smirked. "Oh, yeah? Who's that?"

"His name is David. He's really nice. He helped me with one of my papers after class."

"That's good," Cory replied, his attention turning to the computer. He sat down at the chair.

"I hope we start to make friends here, Cory. We need people to talk to."

"We will. Don't worry. And in the meantime, we've got each other. We'll be fine."

Topanga nodded. "I know." She walked over to him and stood behind him, watching him type his paper. She put her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder.

He smiled and looked up at her. "Hey," he grinned.

"Hey," she grinned back. "Get done soon, sweetie. I missed you today."

"I missed you, too. I'll hurry."

She smiled and kissed his cheek and then took her arms back. She went to the kitchen and started boiling some water for spaghetti. Soon she added the spaghetti noodles.

"I only have the end to write and then I'm done," Cory said, typing.

She smiled. "Okay. Hopefully you'll be done by the time dinner's ready."

He didn't respond. She watched him and he kept typing.

"Honey?" she began walking over to him, her eyes crinkling. He was typing furiously.

"Done!" He exclaimed, putting his hands up in the air. He jumped up and ran to Topanga with a grin.

Topanga was surprised, but she just smiled as Cory ran to her.

He put his arms around her and lifted her feet into the air.

"Cory!" Topanga screamed, giggling, wrapping her arms around him.

He ran, carrying her to the couch and jumped onto the couch with her still in his arms.

He laid her down and leaned over to kiss her. Then he sat up and grinned at her.

"Cory, what was that?!" Topanga exclaimed, sitting up. She was still grinning with him.

He shrugged. "I finished my paper. I thought I'd have a lot more to write, but I finished early. And now I get to spend time with you."

Topanga smiled, in awe of how sweet her husband is. She scooted over to him and he wrapped his arms around her. She laid her head on his chest and sighed contently.

xxxXXXxxx

The next day, Topanga got home after Cory. She walked in and saw him sitting on the couch, reading his textbook.

"Hey, honey!" she smiled at him.

"Hey, Topanga. How was class?"

"Oh, it was great! David and I are going to be partners for a group presentation. I'm actually really looking forward to a group project for once! That's the first, huh?" she said, laughing.

"Yeah. I'm glad for you, honey," he said, his smile slightly turning down.

"What?" Topanga asked, noticing his change in expression. She took her shoes off and went to sit by him.

"Nothing," Cory said, looking back to his textbook.

"No, honey, what is it?"

He looked at her and she could see him debating whether to say anything.

"Cory, what?" she tried again.

"I just…it's nothing really. You just seem to be talking about this, 'David' a lot is all."

"Well, I'm excited, Cory! I'm finally making a friend!" she said with a grin.

"Yeah, I know, but does he know that?"

"What?" she asked, confused.

"You're making a friend, but does he think he's making a friend? I mean, he seems awful helpful, Topanga."

She made a face at him. "Cory, I'm wearing a wedding ring," she said, holding her hand up.

"Okay," he said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I was just wondering. Forget about it."

"Cory, don't be jealous. We're just working on a group project together. That's it."

He nodded. "Okay. I trust you, Topanga. I believe you."

"Thank you," she said. "I have a lot to do tonight, though. I'm going to go get started on my homework," she said, standing up.

"Okay," he said again. He looked down at his book again.

She looked at him sympathetically, leaned down, and then lifted his chin up. "Hey. I love you."

He smiled at her. "I love you, too."

Topanga smiled back and kissed him. She stood back up and headed their room.

Cory turned around and watched her walk into the hallway.

xxxXXXxxx

Cory looked at the clock and saw that it was already 10 o'clock at night. He sighed and closed his books in frustration. His hands slid down his face, trying to wake himself up.

He stood up and walked to his room. The door was slightly open. He pushed it forward to walk in and found Topanga sitting at her desk, facing the other way.

He smiled and walked over to her, just as she had done the day before.

"Yeah, that would probably be good," she said.

He stopped. "What?" Cory asked, confused.

Topanga turned around. "Cory, hey. Sorry, I'm on the phone."

"Oh," Cory said, nodding. He took his pajamas out of his dresser and put them on.

"I don't know," Topanga was saying, looking intently at her notes. Then she started giggling. "No! That's not what we're supposed to accomplish with this presentation!" she said, laughing. "You're right, though. That would make it more interesting."

She felt like Cory was looking at her, and she turned to find him watching, just as she'd thought.

"Listen, David, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Bye." She hung up the phone.

"Working on your presentation?" Cory asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah," Topanga said, standing up. "We got about halfway done. I think it'll be good." She walked over to him and sat next to him on their bed.

He didn't look at her.

"Cory, you're not upset that I was talking to David, are you?"

He looked at her for a second and then stood up. "No. You said there's nothing to worry about, so there's nothing to worry about."

"Cory, I promise there's not. I know it's kind of weird that I was talking to him this late, but we really do have a lot of work to do on this presentation."

He nodded again and walked around to his side of the bed.

"I'm going to go to sleep," he said.

"Wait, Cory," she said, walking to him. "Please don't blow this out of proportion," she said, taking his hands.

"I won't. I can trust you. I know that."

"You can," she said, nodding. "Are you really going to sleep this early?"

"Yeah," he said, laying down. "I'm tired."

"Okay," she said with a sigh. She leaned down and kissed him. "Good night, sweetie. Love you."

"Good night. Love you, too," Cory replied.

xxxXXXxxx

A few days later, Cory had gotten out of his noon class early, so he was on his way back to the apartment. He was hoping to surprise Topanga and they could have lunch together. He was excited, knowing she would love it.

He walked in his door and said, "Hey, honey!"

He looked to the kitchen and saw a man sitting there.

"Who're you?" he asked.

"Oh, hi. I'm David," he said, standing up. "You must be Cory." He held his hand out and smiled.

Cory's eyes crinkled and he slowly reached out to shake David's hand.

He heard footsteps and saw Topanga walking into the room.

"Cory! You're home!" she said with a grin. She walked over to him and kissed him. "And I see you've met David! David, this is my husband, Cory."

"Very nice to finally meet you," David said.

"You, too," Cory said quietly.

Topanga wrapped her arms around Cory's waist. "Did you get done early today?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah. I was hoping we could have lunch, but I see you're busy," he said, looking at her seriously.

Topanga decided to ignore the look. "Well, David and I were just going to go get lunch, but since you're here, we can all go! Or we can make sandwiches or something," she offered.

"You know, I just remembered I left something in my class. I'm going to have to head back to get it," Cory said, not looking happy. He pushed Topanga's hands off of him. "See you guys," he said, quickly walking to the door.

"Cory, wait! Aren't you going to say goodbye?" Topanga said. He kept walking and closed the door behind him as he left.

xxxXXXxxx

Cory went back to the university and got lunch at the cafeteria. He sat down at a table angrily, putting his bag on the chair next to him. He finished his meal quickly and then sat there, looking at his bottle of Pepsi. He looked down at his hands and saw his wedding ring. He twisted it around his finger for a few seconds, then felt the hint of tears coming to his eyes.

He quickly stood up and threw away his leftovers from his lunch. He walked to the library and got his books out to study.

After a few strenuous hours, he heard a ring coming from his backpack. He dug through the small pocket and picked up his cell phone. It was Topanga.

Cory angrily put his phone back in his backpack and went back to studying. A half hour later, these events repeated.

Cory stayed in the library until about 8 o'clock that night. By then he was tired and wanted to go to sleep. There were seven missed calls on his phone.

He went back home and opened the door to find Topanga sitting on the couch, her head in her hands.

"Cory!" she screamed as he walked in. She jumped up and pulled him into a hug, which he resisted. "Why didn't you answer me?!" she yelled at him. Tears began to fall down her face. She let go of him and stepped back.

He didn't say anything, but he looked away from her, still angry.

"Cory, talk to me right now!" Topanga demanded. "I was worried sick! Why didn't you answer me?!"

"I was busy," Cory said, walking around her to set his bag down on the floor.

Topanga followed him. "No! You don't get to say that! I don't care what you were doing, Cory. You ignored my phone calls for six hours! What do you expect me to think?!"

He turned around and said, "What do you expect _me_ to think?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked angrily.

"You have been spending more time with that stupid guy from your class than your own husband. I mean I come home to have lunch with you and I find out that he's here?! How is that supposed to make me feel?"

"Cory, this is _not_ about David. Don't you dare even make this about David."

"Well, it is."

"He is the only friend I've made since we moved here and you don't get to be jealous. Do you understand me? We are working on a PROJECT together! It'll be over in three days! Why do you keep bringing this up?!"

"Listen, just because you're married doesn't mean that he cares."

"What are you talking about?! You met him today. He was happy to meet you!"

"Yeah, and that's just how they are, isn't it? Until one day he makes a move on you and then, whoops, that happened!"

"Oh, don't you even start with me! You must be the expert on this since you cheated on me with Lauren!"

Cory's eyes grew wide. They were both silent.

"What did you just say?" he asked quietly. She could see the hurt in his eyes.

"No, Cory, that's not what I meant."

"That's exactly what you meant!"

"I'm just trying to say that I know what it's like to be cheated on and-"

"Yeah, I think you've made it perfectly clear what you're trying to say," he said. He shook his head and walked to their room. Topanga walked after him, but he closed the door and locked it.

She threw her fist at the door. "Cory, open the door!"

He didn't respond.

"Cory, stop this. Open the door."

There was still no answer.

"I didn't mean anything other than to say that I wouldn't do that."

The door opened and Cory was standing there. "Yeah. But I apparently would. I did. I already know you're better than me, Topanga. That's just one more thing that sets you above me."

"Cory, stop this!" Topanga said.

"And you're right. I was the one who cheated on you. I'm just like anyone else who cheats. I'm just like who I keep saying David is. So why should I sit here and act like I don't deserve it?" He closed the door again.

"No, Cory! Open this door right now!"

He didn't answer.

"Fine! Then I'll keep trying to open this door until you do."

She went to the kitchen and got a screwdriver out of a drawer. She tried to turn the lock on the door, but she had no luck. Then she took a bobby pin out of her hair and tried to pick the lock. That didn't work either. She knew she wouldn't be able to get through the lock.

"Alright, I guess I'm just going to try to break the door down," Topanga said. She rammed her shoulder into the door. Then again. And again. Again.

Finally the door opened.

"Stop it," Cory said.

"Why?" she asked defiantly. "I want to talk to you."

"I won't let you hurt yourself," he said, still angry.

"Then stop this right now," she demanded.

"No! You said what you said, Topanga! You can't take it back! I'm a cheater. That's it. That's what I am. It's done. Stop trying to pretend you didn't say it!"

"Will you just stop?! And I'm not pretending I didn't say it! I know what I said! You need to stop this and talk to me! You said you won't let me get hurt. Well it's hurting me right now when you won't talk to me!"

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?" he yelled.

"NOTHING is happening with me and David. He knows we're married, Cory. Marriage is a big deal. And I don't care what happens, I'm not going to let David do anything, even though I already know he won't."

"Is that all you wanted to say?" Cory asked.

"No! I also want to tell you to knock it off! Quit calling yourself a cheater! I know that's not what you are. So stop it!"

"Topanga, it's true. There's no use acting like it's not."

"Stop it."

"Will you quit telling me what to do?!"

"Yeah, if you quit saying horrible things about yourself!"

He shook his head. "You don't think that I feel horrible about that every day?"

"What?" she asked quietly.

"I can never take it back, Topanga. Never."

"I know that, Cory. But it's done."

"I know it's done! Trust me, I know that," he said, sitting down.

"Cory, what's wrong?! I don't understand what's going on right now," she said, sitting next to him.

He turned to look at her. "I regret that every second of every hour of every day. I hurt you. I caused you pain, Topanga. How could I ever do that?" he asked, tears coming to his eyes. "What kind of person does that?"

"Stop, Cory."

"And I deserve for it to happen to me. I deserve that so much. And I know how amazing and beautiful you are, Topanga. I know how lucky I am. And other guys can see that too, you know."

"Cory, I'm never going to do that."

"Yeah. I know. Because you're better than I am. But that's not going to stop other guys from doing it. And I deserve it. God's not going to stop it."

She shook her head at him. "Cory, look at me. I don't care what you did. You are _not_ a cheater. You are _not_ less than me. If I can forgive you, then why can't you forgive yourself? I made a promise to you, and to God, that I would love you for the rest of my life, and more. And I intend to keep that promise. He didn't stop that. He let that happen. You know why? Because we belong together. And we deserve to have each other."

"But I can't take it back," he said, tears falling down his cheeks. "And I still deserve for it to happen to me. You get what you give, right?"

"Yeah. You get what you give. You gave me your promise too, Cory. You promised me that you'll always love me. And that's what you get in return. And that's enough."

"Topanga, I'm so sorry," he said, beginning to cry.

"No. I'm sorry. I'm the one who said it. I'm the one who implied that's what you were. But you're not. I was mad, Cory. I was mad that you were jealous, because I didn't understand why. I thought you were just being jealous like a guy. I didn't know this was what was happening, Cory. I'm sorry. And you do not deserve to be cheated on. Don't you dare ever think that, Cory Matthews. Do you hear me?"

He didn't respond.

"Do you hear me, Cory? Answer me right now. Say yes."

"Yes," he said quietly.

"You…you are everything, Cory. Everything in my whole life. And I don't ever want you to think you're anything less. You mean everything to me. I don't want to see you hurt. Promise me you'll never believe that you deserve anything bad. Promise me that you won't believe you're less than me."

He just looked at her.

"Promise me, Cory!"

"I promise," he whispered.

"I love you so much," she whispered back.

"I love you too. The real reason I was jealous was because I believed I deserved to have you taken from me. I believed it was fair. So when it actually seemed like it could happen, I freaked out. You are my world, Topanga. You are everything. You mean so much to me. And to have you taken from me…it would kill me. I know that I can't live on this earth without you."

"Cory, I can't live without you either. You have to know that."

He nodded.

"That's why we're together. God brought us together, Cory. He's not going to let us be ripped apart. That will never happen. Because I need you. And you need me. We're in this thing forever now. Together. No matter what."

She wrapped her arms around him. "Don't you remember? I will always love you."

"I will always love you."

"And I will never let you go. Never. I don't care what you did or what happened. It's over, Cory. See this? Right now? It's you and me. It's always been you and me, and it always will be you and me. Don't let yourself get fooled into thinking anything else. I don't care what you do, Cory. You couldn't make me not love you. You're stuck with me now," she smirked.

"Good," he said, slightly smiling. "Because I'll never let you go."

"Good."

 **Okay, this is probably the longest one shot I've ever written. Do I regret it? Nah.**

 **YAY, CORPANGA!**

 **I told you I'd take care of my OTP! :)**

 **If you read this entire thing…well, bless you. Please leave a review to show you crossed the finish line.**

 **Stay awesome.**


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